The Greatness Project

Trash Talk

November 2005

“Bad news is good news” is a well-worn adage in the newspaper business because bad news sells papers. Perhaps this explains the current proliferation of gossip sheets and magazines that pillory leaders, actors, and athletes with abandon and yet, if confronted with the truth, bury the retraction. We seem to be a nation that loves gossip and it follows us into our communities, our workplaces, and even our families. Does this insistence on finding and shattering the clay feet of successful individuals help create an environment of greatness? Not in the slightest.

Perhaps gossip grows out of envy or a desire to level the playing field. And while it may bring an exceptional person down, it never elevates anyone involved. Proponents righteously proclaim that they seek the truth, yet the truth never seems balanced with positive accomplishments. If there’s some dark deed in someone’s past for which they have atoned, how is being reminded about it helpful? Does knowing this make us better people?

Gossip and scandal, even when true, serve no one and perversely multiply and distort as they are shared. Realizing how pernicious gossip can be might make us pause, but there is almost no way to assess the damage. Perhaps an old Italian story might help.

A man went to confession and confessed that he had gossiped about a leader in the city. The priest listened sagely and then suggested his penance. “Take a bag full of feathers and go to the highest tower in the city. Release the bag of feathers and then come back to see me.” The man did as he was told and then returned to the priest. The priest said to him, “Your penance is to go and collect all the feathers you released.” Shocked, the man complained, “Father, that would be impossible. I would have no idea where all of the feathers went, they could have gone anywhere.” “Exactly,” the priest replied, “and so your gossip will spread throughout the city and go to all corners and you will never know where your malicious talk has spread.” The man went away vowing never to gossip again.

Perhaps there is a way to redirect the talkative nature of humans. We have already explored the power of positive words in other articles, both as specific feedback and as internal dialogue. How would our work, community, or home environment change if we spoke about others in only positive terms? Instead of sharing “clay-feet-shattering” information about someone, what if we shared that person’s good ideas and actions? What if we committed to building people up instead of verbally tearing them down? What if we encouraged each other to greater things by listening to positive stories about those around us? Now that would be an environment of greatness.

Essentially we create our environment. Everyone has clay feet; a time in life where she/he stumbled, made the wrong choice, or failed to help someone. We can elect to always find the fault, to somehow believe that we are righteous enough, or perfect enough to enlighten others about the imperfections we see. Or we can create environments that assist every human person to thrive, realizing essentially that to be fully human means being capable of great errors as well as great deeds.

Great environments focus on great deeds. Previous challenges are used as inspiration for future possibilities. Great environments honor the reality of being human and celebrate the greatness of which we are all capable. What are you doing to create a great environment?

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